The internet is an endless sky of unlimited opportunities which sometimes feel quite confusing for an ordinary people. We often admire how those online businesses make money through various website marketing. What are those terms called MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) and Affiliates (e.g. Clickbank)? Both are the legitimate ways to earn extra money from regular online sales using your own time and pace.

Let us discuss the basic but very important difference between Affiliates and MLM

MULTI-LEVEL MARKETING (MLM) – [A Chain Pyramid]

Basically, you will join a team to promote a particular chosen product. Here Marketers are the resellers. They are pioneered in their niche and have developed a chain network which in return gives them very good margin. It works like a managerial pay scale where new executives perform hard and top level managers participate in decision making with few actual routine targets. More products the down network sell, more commission the upper-level earn.

All resellers, whether they are new or experienced are supposed to buy a certain amount of product volume to qualify for earnings. The amount of profit goes higher as their hierarchy moves up in the chain. Resellers can choose among the many products that merchants offer.

MLM follows a membership structure where new people are recruited below the senior ones and that is how commission percentages vary from lower for new ones and higher to the top level. Every reseller tries to recruit new marketer to generate sales so that few percentage of the sales commission are added to their earnings. They often need to see, how can their downlines grow faster and even faster?

Marketers actually need to look after purchase and sales functions as they directly face the customers. For this purpose, training is often given to the marketers and resellers. Further seminars and meetings are also conducted on regular occasions so that system remains healthy and effectively workable. This way they manage to let everyone understand the process well and able to convince customers more effectively.

Resellers can also set their own prices for the products they choose to marketize, which is not possible in an affiliate program. There may be a competition between two resellers which are working on similar products and hence require more work on sales strategies, lowering costs to shorten the per profit ratios etc.

MLM resellers have a better understanding their customers as they gain more. Constant network member's performance is of utmost importance at this stage. Bigger the pyramid is higher profits top tier resellers earn.

Pros

There are many MLM marketers have earned well and are financially well settled. It is popular in cities where communication channels are easily available. Even if you are normal office executive, you get a lot of people to convince along your route. The success of MLM must lie somewhere around marketing skills and hard-work. If you have good interpersonal skills and are good at convincing people, MLM may suit best to you.

Why is MLM not recommended for a newbie? Why few people talk good about it?

Well, everything is green, positive and promising at joining stage. Those businessmen and top tier ones will tell you success stories about how some ordinary guy joined them and today he owns his black Mercedes. MLM news is the bitter facts. Some kind of brainstorming and brainwashing techniques will be applied to you so that you can go and apply the same to your colleges and family members.

Ok, we by now we have totally underestimated the MLM values here, but it is hard to believe that over 97.3% of MLM businessmen in the market are not ethical. In short unless you work hard upon your targets and make some long network chain below you, success is very difficult. Very few minds can achieve the level of a complex network which in return give them higher profits.

If some day a product line goes down or a large number of network people lose the interest and belief in the product which they have chosen, you will merely need to watch disaster happening. If the product doesn't perform as per the plan in the market, these marketers will try you for up-sell till you decide to quit. This is a fact with many.

AFFILIATE MARKETING – [A Circular Process]

Here individuals are the performers and not dependent of a network performance. One can directly coordinate with the top tier companies to get their product offers. Identifying the product market is the first concept in Affiliates. Being an Affiliate marketer one must know what products suit their niche. Having no physical cost involved, Affiliates enjoy quick money on direct sales through their on-line channels. Also see If your niche suits best for Amazon Associates?

Depending upon the website niche or level of marketing skills the return may differ widely. Some marketers may sell few products while other gains huge through it. It totally depends on upon what on-line strategy they adopt.

To sell the products marketers require no big capital to invest in inventory or in physical products. Some site making skills and a little bit of technical knowledge are sufficient to start with affiliate marketing.

To avoid monopoly of top tier sites owners, different networks offer a promotion to lower or new affiliates so that they do not need to remain dependent on high ranking ones.

Marketers can directly target higher commission depending upon the offer/scheme and rate of sales. Being an Affiliate Marketer one does not need to set up any communication or service to the customer as all direct sales related issues are settled by network companies. Affiliates job is to target the pool of on-line to customers to take a decision of buying through their on-line advertising.

Affiliates Marketing is a pure business model and can generate an absolutely higher level of income. If you are good at writing topics and have enough technical website making skill, Affiliate has a long way for you.

Final Words

Depending upon the skills and niche marketers can decide upon which program is best suitable to them. Affiliate is a pure on-line business whereas MLM requires job level performance and direct interaction with clients, customers and recruited members. Do your research; take some time to decide your next go, so that all your efforts will be applied in the right direction.